1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device for forming images and a projector including the liquid crystal display device.
2. Related Art
Currently, a liquid crystal projector which includes a twist-nematic-type liquid crystal panel and two compensating optical elements formed by sapphire plates or the like and disposed between the liquid crystal panel and a light emission side polarizing plate is known. The sapphire plates have optical axes inclined at a predetermined angle to the light emission surface in the rubbing direction of an orientation film (see JP-A-2004-198650). According to this type of liquid crystal projector, the pre-tilt of the liquid crystal can be compensated by controlling the optical axes and thicknesses of the compensating optical elements disposed in the vicinity of the liquid crystal panel to improve contrast.
Moreover, a number of technologies capable of enhancing display characteristics by using micro-lens array provided on the liquid crystal panel for converging illumination light on pixels have been proposed (for example, see JP-A-2003-287603).
According to the liquid crystal panel disclosed in JP-A-2004-198650, the compensating optical elements are disposed on the light emission side. In this structure, limitation is imposed on the positions of the compensating optical elements by the space on the emission side, back-focus of the projection lens, and the like in some cases. In this structure, the compensating optical element needs to be provided on the light incident side as well as on the light emission side. In this case, no problem occurs when the liquid crystal panel does not include micro-lens array. However, when the liquid crystal panel includes the micro-lens array, inclination of light on the light emission side generally varies due to the effect of the micro-lens array. As a result, accurate compensation cannot be achieved.